IOC to Invest Rs 222 Billion for Gujarat Refinery Expansion

The country's largest refiner Indian Oil Corp Ltd will invest over Rs 222 billion on the long-awaited capacity expansion and upgradation project for its Gujarat refinery on the outskirts of Vadodara, sources with direct knowledge told Cogencis.

Indian Oil Corp plans to expand the capacity of the refinery to 18 mtpa from the current 13.7 mtpa. The project includes upgradation of the refinery to produce Bharat Stage-VI compliant petrol and diesel, and increasing the production capacity of linear alkyl benzene to 162,000 tn per year from 120,000 tn per year at present.

The expansion and upgradation plan also includes a project to expand Indian Oil Corp's petrochemicals operations. A new synthesis gas unit, hydrogen unit, and a butanol unit will be built for production of butyl acrylate, which currently is not produced in India, sources said.

Butyl acrylate is used to make paints, plastics, sealants, coatings, adhesives, and textiles, among others, and has a significant growth potential in the Indian market.

Indian Oil Corp plans to use propylene, synthesis gas, and hydrogen to produce butanol, and propylene to produce acrylic acid. Butanol and acrylic acid will then be used to produce butyl acrylate.

The project is likely to be commissioned in two stages and is expected to take a total of about five years to be completed, the sources said, adding that the refinery capacity expansion and upgradation would be commissioned by December 2022, followed by units to produce butyl acrylate over the subsequent months.